Tree Hugging - COVID19 edition
It’s weird. Sometimes I forget that we are living through a global pandemic that has disrupted millions of lives and killed hundreds of thousands. No, I don’t live with my head in the sand. I had already blocked off the beginning of 2020 to include many stretches glued to my keyboard as I updated my website, my YouTube channel, and of course, this, my newsletter. My husband had recently started working from home as well before this all happened too.
I hadn’t anticipated that this would end up being ALL that I did this spring.
Being a highly sensitive empath, I felt a great unease settle in around the end of last year. It felt like a dense fog, and some days I had to revert back to Lamaze-style breathing to not go into a full-blown panic. It didn’t help that I had been warned by my Feng Shui teacher, Joey Yap, back in September while attending a Pro-Level course in Malaysia that the upcoming Year of the Metal Rat would be especially challenging. Even he had no clue that this would turn into the all-encompassing opportunity for introspection and pivoting that it has become.
The last time I went to a public event was on March 12th, and it was Weird. No one knew how to greet each other, and I even did a video on how the 5 Elements were greeting each other. The next day we entered quarantine.
I would be lying if I said it has been easy being home nearly all the time, save for a couple of volunteer stints at the local food bank and the necessary grocery store runs. However, I’ve now entered a space of peace about it. Or at least familiarity. You see, I grew up on a pig farm in the middle of Kansas. I spent MANY weeks isolated from humanity other than my parents, siblings, and the occasional neighbor dropping by. Truthfully, this feels much the same to me. I didn’t love it then, just as I don’t love it now, but I’m realizing that it was a great training ground for the social isolation that we are in currently.
I’m used to being alone with my thoughts, ruminating on how different experiences and ideas end up working together, connecting disparate notions to create new realities. It’s what saved my sanity as a child, and is now doing the same for me. Others didn’t have that. They were distracted with cool TV shows, non-stop sports entertainment, numbing out to loud music and closing down bars. I had chickens, pigs, horses, cats, dogs, and long hours driving a tractor, where I could choose from a Country radio station or a Western one. Our TV options were CBS or NBC, with PBS coming in as a grainy option when the wind blew the right way. We had a party line telephone, which was entertaining if you picked up the receiver on the land line and were careful not to breathe too heavy so you could listen to the neighbor’s conversation.
Not everyone desires to be this comfortable with their thoughts. They haven’t made friends with themselves, and this Great Pause has them feeling like they are trapped with someone that they think is a big jerk half the time.
We all have familial and societal programming that frames how we view the world. “Fat is Shameful.” “Can’t be too rich or too thin.” “Money is the root of all evil.” “It’s better to give than receive.”
I called BS on those 4 statements as well as MANY others. My life has transformed a lot since then. I’m not saying that it’s been perfect. I AM saying that being able to question things and know that the answers I get are from Source instead of being swayed by other people’s emotional reactivity or trauma bonding is a magical way to live. If you want to know more, check out my YouTube channel, or follow me on Instagram. My mission is to inspire others to think critically and act lovingly with kindness and compassion for all. And all of that starts with yourself. If you can’t hug a human right now due to the physical distancing orders, hug a tree. They love it, and are happy to share their wisdom with you. Be well, stay safe, and dance as often as you can!
